Progressive systemic sclerosis in the elderly.

There is evidence to suggest that the incidence of progressive systemic sclerosis in the elderly is more common than in younger age groups. As in younger patients, late onset cases may have minimal skin changes and this can cause difficulty in diagnosis. The case histories of 2 patients are presented to illustrate these points

Simultaneous Measurement of Plasma and Erythrocyte Oxypurines

The individual oxypurine concentrations in the plasma and erythrocytes were determined among normal male subjects and gouty patients with and without allopurinol medication. Oxypurine measurements in the gouty patients on various medications but not on allopurinol displayed near normal values. However, allopurinol therapy produced a highly significant increase in the intracellular concentration of hypoxanthine associated with an additional increase in uric acid content in the red blood cells. Such changes suggest that xanthine oxidase inhibitors may possibly complicate the management of pregnancy toxemias by altering blood levels of oxypurines.</jats:p